Jean-Paul Herteman, Chief Executive Officer of Safran, today inaugurated Sagem's new "François Hussenot" facility, the main Research & Development center for the Safran Electronics division, in Massy, near Paris. Also attending the ceremony was Vincent Delahaye, mayor of Massy.

Today's inauguration was a major milestone in the extensive restructuring and development effort at the Massy plant, which started in 2008 and was supported by an investment of 60 million euros. It also marks a pivotal step in the development of Safran Electronics, by bringing together various teams within this division at a central site.

Created in early 2009, Safran Electronics, a division of Safran group company Sagem, consolidates Safran's world-class expertise in electronics and safety-critical software. Specialists in the division come from Group companies Sagem, Hispano-Suiza and Messier-Bugatti, and contribute their skills and expertise to all Group companies involved in civil and military aircraft propulsion, aircraft equipment, avionics, inertial navigation and optronics.

Through this new organization, Safran is ideally positioned to bolster its expertise in electronics technologies for all of its businesses, and especially in the emerging market for airplanes that will be more electric, more digital and friendlier to the environment.

The new Massy site spans some 51,000 square meters (550,800 sq ft) and is designed for up to 2,300 employees. It consolidates personnel from eight different facilities, previously scattered in the greater Paris area.

The "François Hussenot" facility inaugurated today is the largest part of the site, with 1,000 employees, mainly involved in R&D, and floorspace of 20,000 square meters (216,000 sq ft). It houses 17 R&D spaces and three laboratories, featuring world-class installations. With ergonomic specialists contributing to the architectural design process, this facility offers an outstanding working environment, and the layout was designed to facilitate collaborative working between the different specialized trades and project teams. Through this rationalized organization, based on interdisciplinary collaboration, teams will be able to work more efficiently, as they share their different cultures and areas of expertise.

The people at the new "François Hussenot" facility are involved in some of today's leading aerospace and defense programs, including the civil and military aircraft Airbus A380, A350 XWB and A400M, Boeing 787, Rafale, Superjet 100, NH90, Tiger, etc., as well as naval and land defense applications, such as FREMM frigates, Scorpène and Barracuda class submarines, the FELIN soldier modernization system, etc.

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Sagem, a high-tech company in the Safran group, holds world or European leadership positions in optronics, avionics, electronics and safety-critical software for both civil and military markets. Sagem is the No. 1 company in Europe and No. 3 worldwide for inertial navigation systems (INS) used in air, land and naval applications. It is also the world leader in helicopter flight controls and the European leader in optronics and tactical UAV systems. Operating across the globe through the Safran group, Sagem and its subsidiaries employ 6,700 people in Europe, Southeast Asia and North America. Sagem is the commercial name of the company Sagem Défense Sécurité.
For more information: www.sagem-ds.com